Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-15
A PSYCHICAL VISIT.

A PSlCHICAL VIII.
| Jack TempIeton had been my closest
| friend in bpyhood, was my cherished com
paniOn in the days of our early manhood
at college and my delightful correspondent
/ during the ten years that had gone since
the close of the happy period of student
life This correspondence had not been
the only communication between us, for
we agreed on the final leavetaking Of our
old college quarters, that visits on each
/ other should be kept up, Jack setting aside
+ al least two weeks in one year 10 he spent
with me wherever / should be settled. and
the year following ! was To visit with him
for short season. This arrangement had
been observed by both with puuCtuality
and regularity, and we became well aC-
quantcd with each others mode of living.
occupation and surroundings. Jack was
a physician in Greenwich. Conn. ANY
one knowing him during the character
forming period of his life would have
marked him for future physician. He
possessed those traits of character, those
oddities of native disposition which mean
strong individuality. He was drily HUI
murouS in his ordinary conversation, can
did in his intercourse with his acqumnt-
anCeS, cheerful enough on occasion. irEe-
NOUS in his estimate "f people, not hy any
means brilliant. but StudiuuS and deter
mined. especially 81 when concerned in the
investigation of subjects belonging To the
obscure and having dash of the mystic
rious. To him the Greek grammar and
Latin construction We're dull plOdding.
hut mathematics, and especially the
e al sRtA md nf
those questions the solution of which
involves an exploit into the depths
Of psychology, were TO him a genuine
pleasure Exploring the mysteries of
the human mind was that which made up
the texture Of his thoughts by day and
was apt Ia weave the fabric of his dreams
by night. \ trick of magic, no matter
how obscure, did not interest him bcCa es-c
there was no pretense that lis operation
depended on anything hut some clever
mechanical contrivance or sleight of hand.
Such things were lacking in that essential,
the supernatural. which So absorbed his
every thought. But an exhibition of mes
meriSm filed him with wonder, for he
recognized in il the manifestations of the
unseen workings of the human mind, and
much of his time was spent i'll the study
of its strange phenomena. 1t was his
claim that could meSmeriSm become other
than the ungoyernable thing II now il and
be brought under the suhJeCtinn of the
human will. il would prove not only a
mighty aid in medicine and surgery, but
would very likely afford an explanation Ol
those strange mental conditions which so
puzzle the world to-day. Having a min.
thus fashioned it was the most natural
thing for Jack To take 10 medicine as a
nrnfeSSiOn-mediCine in its broad sense.
the enthusiastic study of which Will
CratifV the thinking man in his search for
light upon the intimate and intricate rela-
ton Of the human body to the human
soul
The newspaper field had been chosen by
me as the one in which | would exploit
whatever learning and energy and deter
minatiOn | possessed. and at this time
| was engaged on morning daily in
vigorous Michigan town.
II was Jacks year to visit me, and the
time being at hand when he might be
looked for. | had completed the few prep
arations about my bachelor belonging.
which his coming would make necessary.
so was not surprised when Just at twi-
light one evening in July he came in upon
me. sitting alone. in meditative mind. III
my second story fiat apartments. Not sur
priSed, | say. At the time, truly was not.
| remember the date of his coming. II
was Friday night, July II, 1877, a fact
which in the light Of what followed | hat
good reason 10 remember. Our greeting,
were as cordial as usual, our handShaking
as vigorous. and our mutual inquiries
about the things that had come into ouI
lives since the last meeting were as rap
idly and enthusiastic spoken a eyer. Ny
own experiences for the tweSemOnth, com
monplace and comparatively uneventful,
We're soon told, but what they lacked in
novelty and volume was made up by the
perfect avalanche of incident and advent
ure Jack had to relate of himself. IL,
told me that night the details Of expert
ment after experiment be had made with
human physical organisms how he had
tested and analysed and theorized in hi
endeavor To sift down, satisfactorily I,
himself. the grand mystery of what pOr
tiun of mans body was YSst closely re
lated 10 his soul what one of the various
systems in the human framework gave
shape and motion and energy TO the sub
lime thing. mind. This was his hobby
He did not spare me. He never did spare
me when thus occupied. He had become
accustomed 10 having me indulge him
when on his favOrite theme. In this con
neCtion he mad many new interesting
stories 10 tell about mesmerism and what
he called itS measurcless possibilities. Ho
related how he while i'll mesmeric sleep.
at the will Of a person who possessed the
power of putting one under its influence.
had been sent. AT the instance of third
person, stranger, 10 a far distant. city
where he had never been before, not at
least in the ordinarily understood sense of
being, and had described scenes and OBJ
jectS about the streets of that city aCcu-
rately enough TO be easily recognized by
the third person. whose home it was.
Several tests of this kind had been
made, each time with the most
astonishing results. Jacks enthusiasm
in this narration was only equaled
by the readiness with which he came
10 his conclusion, that the mind of the
meSmerized subject had unhampered by
matter, time or space, been transported at
the will of a designated person TO place
chosen by that person, and being present
in that place had Of course actually seen
objects there and easily enough could
tell Of them; in other minds the objects
had made their impressions on that mind
and that mind returning oits accustomed
habitatiun. the subject body. could read
lily give an account of those impressions
and" he added, with peculiar i'm
presSiycness in his voice, II believe that
if the conditions are favorable the subject
under the influence of this subtle some
thing can be transported in spirit TO dis
tant place. can see and talk with "A second
person, and this visit, with all its Incl